Wanted: A caring boss with inner confidence

Wanted: A caring boss with inner confidence

What kind of boss do you have? Do they care about you or only about themselves? Some people think that they have no boss, I call them the ‘no one tells me what to do’ types, but I believe that we all have a boss of some kind or other. Give me a boss who cares and I will repay her or him in loyalty and hard work one hundred times over. Caring bosses are rare but when you find them, especially if they have the added ingredient of inner confidence, then you’ll discover just what is so special about them.

A caring boss is someone who generally cares about everything, in no particular order: They care about themselves and their career; they care about their personnel about them as people and as suppliers of service. They care about their bosses and whether they are getting from them what they need. They care about the team they are in; they care about what people think and what they say. They care about how people act, about the conditions they work in; they care about the take home pay that they and their people earn.

Now I know for sure that many of you will be thinking that I have gone too far and that caring is a sign of weakness but let me assure you, anything is further than the truth. If you genuinely care about someone you will be prepared to stand up to them, to remind them when they are right or wrong; to insist on respect and discipline, to want the best for them for their own sake.

Bosses that care are not over possessive; they give those around them the space they need and are quite prepared to let their staff go especially when the time is right. Bosses who care are genuinely interested in their people and therefore will give their employees several chances, understanding that it is not necessarily the employee at fault but those around them not giving them enough support or the right environment to shine in. Bosses that care are not afraid to put their people forward for new opportunities and challenges, and because they have inner confidence, bosses that care can be the toughest bosses of all because they will do what is right and not what is easiest.

However, I have one caveat here: If you have a boss that cares and shows you the attention that others failed to do, remember that you are one of the privileged few and while you should enjoy it while it lasts you must not lean on them too much, they are people too. At one point it will be time to leave safety of your workplace and branch out to pastures new and to search for the next opportunity and your next boss.

Harley is a dynamic 'we can do this' kind of person with a successful track record of working for a wide variety of companies in all kinds of sectors. From very small family run businesses right through to giant multi-nationals. Over the last thirty five years Harley has built a reputation for inspiring those around him to rout out and tackle the core problems facing their organizations. Armed with a wide range of pragmatic tools that he has developed over the years, Harley is able to help his clients bring about long-term, sustainable solutions, while having fun at the same time.
Harley is a motivational 'people person' who is nonetheless tough on efficiency and delivery.
Apart from being well known for his highly entertaining and motivational speeches,
Harley is also a blogger and author of four books; 'The Change Manager's Handbook', 'Transition', 'Inspirational Leadership’ and ‘Making a Difference’.